Stronger than Steel
by xXlitonoteintheskyXx
Summary: Aizen is plotting and its time for Seretei to get their act together and fight or face total annihilation.Not everyone you depend on can be trusted. crappy summary but please read! PLEASE REVIEW SO I WRITE MORE CHAPTERS! much more interesting than summar
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Bleach, the awesome Kubo does

Set after they're done fighting the arrancar that come to Karakura town

Please review!!! It helped keep me motivated to write more chapters if I know people are reading it

Ichigo panted as coughed and glared at the arrancar. He glanced at his comrades around him. Ishida was losing a battle to a huge, leering arrancar that was toying with him. Sado was barely standing, but he was holding his ground. Inoue lay on the ground, unmoving, and Rukia was swaying as she stood above Inoue, trying to protect her. Urahara was going against three arrancars at once, and although he was at captain-level, he was losing his ground. Renji had already lost one arm, but he and Zabimaru were fighting till the end. This…could not be happening. Where was the rest of Soul Society? Why hadn't they come yet? The buildings around them lay in ruins as the city night sky slowly turned dark. The clouds hung from the sky and the dry wind howled around the fighting figures. Blood colored the gray pavement and rubble.

" You bastards! What do you want with us?" shouted Ichigo in a last desperation. He already had multiple wounds and arrancar was still unhurt.

" tsk tsk. You shouldn't be whining when you're about to lose. Well, since you do look extremely piteous, let me tell you. Aizen-sama sent us here to practice. We were getting bored in Hueco Mundo, so he let us have some fun and practice our skills. I wasn't expecting much from mere Shinigamis but this is even worse than I thought." Laughed the arrancar. He swung his released zanpaktou again and Ichigo tried to dodge it but it caught his shoulder and ripped it apart. He fell down on his knees, gasping in pain as quarts of blood shot out.

" This is the end you pathetic shinigami. Remember my name well, Arrancar No. 5, Shishino!" The arrancar gathered his reitsu and swung the sword with all his might on the defenseless Ichigo. Ichigo tried to make his body move, but it was past its limit and he saw the sword come at his at incredible speeds. Is this really the end…?, he thought.

Suddenly, a bright red flash appeared out of nowhere and hit the arrancar's sword with such forced that it was forced off its path towards Ichigo.

Byakuya walked calmly along the destruction towards a shocked and relieved Ichigo. Ichigo looked behind him and saw Soi Fon was just behind him. Ukitake stepped out of the gate along with Shunshi. Kenpachi crashed down from the sky and roared " Where the hell are my arrancar? Which one of you wants to play?",and started charging at the nearest arrancar. Byakuya glanced down at Ichigo and said "We will take it from here." Ichigo was relieved but he was angry that he wasn't able to fight off the arrancar and protect his friends. He suddenly heart Ishida shout in horror and quickly turned around to see what was going on. His heart stopped.

A sword had pierced Rukia's chest, right where her heart was. The arrancar grinned evilly and twisted his sword around in her body before roughly pulling it out and stabbing her again. Ichigo suddenly shot up from where he was kneeling and ran towards her with strength that appeared out of nowhere. No! he shouted and attacked the arrancar who barely knew what hit him before taking Zangetsu in his head and he began disappearing. Ichigo caught Rukia's limp body before it hit the ground. Her eyes were half closed and she whispered his name.

"Help!" he shouted but the rest of the shinigamis and his friends were busy fighting their own enemy. Ichigo had no healing powers and the blood pouring out of Rukia's wound was frightening.

" Ichigo", she whispered again, " Stop yelling. It's okay. It' no use."

" No! Don't talk, save your energy, I'll get Inoue to heal you"

" Ichigo, Inoue's unconscious and hurt herself. She can't help us now. Ichigo, I…."

"Rukia!"

" Say goodbye to everyone for me. Tell Renji and Nii-sama I love them both…"

" Rukia, stop talking like you're going to die"

"and Ichigo…you….stopped the rain in my heart too. I lo-" Rukia eyes closed and her hands fell at her side.

"Rukia! Rukia!" Ichigo shouted with all his strength as if he could call her back. No…this couldn't be happening. This was all his fault…he couldn't protect here, again. No, no this is all just a bad dream. He hugged her cold body and tears began to slide down his cheeks. Ichigo held Rukia and cried into her robes.

As the shinigami finished the last of the arrancar, Shunsi cheerfully turned around and said " Well that's done, Everyone lets go back for some sake! Nothings better than…" He stopped as he saw Ichigo. Byakuya turned around to see what was stopping Shunsi. His heart grew cold as he saw what Ichigo held in his arms. His own hands began shaking and he clenched his fist. He broke his promise to Hisana. He couldn't protect Rukia either. He gritted his teeth and slowly walked towards Ichigo.

Renji was motionless. His eyes registered one thing, but his heart refused to believe it. Zabimaru fell on to the ground. Blood rushed to his head and his feet wouldn't move. That wasn't Rukia, that couldn't be Rukia.

While the earth was silent, the skies began to open. It began to cry, and the rains poured down from the heavens, washing away the blood that stained the ground. It rained harder and harder, but nobody moved. Nobody breathed. They just stared, paralyzed.

1 Year Later

Ichigo looked up from Rukia's grave. Just one year ago. As he stood up, his captain's coat blew gently in the wind. The wind rustled the green trees that surrounded the graveyard. A few leaves blew off and landed at Ichigo's feet. At her funeral, he swore to work even harder and that he will never let anyone he cared about die ever again. He requested Yamamoto-san to provide him with serious training from each of the captains, and from there he grew with such speed that it frightened everyone around him. His scowls grew even deeper and he rarely smiled anymore. He gave up his life on earth and decided to spend most of his time in Sereti to train. It was difficult leaving his sisters, but he needed to protect them too. Aizen had attacked a few more times after that, but they were just for the same reasons. Seretei was preparing for his invasion at any time. He sighed at got up. Renji got up too, and picked up his captain's coat. They looked at each other and back at the grave. Yamamoto decided that after the first attack, the three captain-less squads needed a leader immediately. Ichigo was appointed captain of the 3rd squad, Renji to the fifth, and Shuuhei, who just recently obtained his bankai, was ninth.

" Meetings in ten minutes" said Renji monotonously. Rukia's death had a similar impact on him, but it shattered one of the most important aspects of his life. He no longer felt the drive to surpass Byakuya. He didn't see the reason anymore. He felt hollow, like a shell.

" yeah, lets go" replied Ichigo

In Rukongai At that Time

Suki opened her tightly closed eyes. Her body was still shaking from the impact onto the ground. What was going on?! Why was she in this dust-covered village that looked like it dated back to the ancient times. Why was she wearing a traditional kimono? She glanced down at the muffled voices. She released her grasp on her two younger sisters. They looked around in just as much shock and they were also wearing kimonos. What happened to their regular clothes?

" Nee-sama, what's going on?? Where's mommy and daddy? Where are we? Whats going on!?" shrilled Yokana. Yokana was tall and skinny ten year old who had a long, beautiful dark tresses. She wore glasses and held her hair up in a clip. Sakura didn't say anything, but clutched Suki's hand so tightly that her hand was numb. Sakura was the youngest, just nine, and she was extremely adorable, with bangs, full lips, and imploring eyes. Suki didn't like talking about her physical features. She thought she was extremely plain fifteen year old, but the only aspect of herself that she liked was her hair. Her shining, black hair was amazingly smooth and soft, but besides that Suki didn't like anything else. She had long legs, but they weren't as slim as she wanted them to be. She was a bit on the flat side. Suki was very strong and straightforward, and she immediately evaluated their situation.

" I don't know, but be quiet. I don't like how these people are looking at us. Sakura, Yokana, get up and hold my hand." They silently obeyed her. What was going on? The last thing she remembered was that they were driving down the freeway while it was raining and then there was loud honking noise and she remember a loud crashing noise, glass breaking and screaming. She instinctively grabbed her sisters near her when that happened, then all went black.

The villagers were whispering amongst themselves. Who were these newcomers? They had new arrivals all the time but these children were strange. The villagers felt a strong aura of power around them and they felt like they were being strangled. The village leader walked up next to an apprehensive young man.

" Sensei, what are these children? Why do we feel such strange auras around these children?"

" I believe its called reitsu, the power needed to get into Seretei, and the power held by the Shinigami. A few of our villagers had some and they were tested into Seretei a while ago, but none of them has such strong power like these children. I've never felt anything like it"

In Seretei, inside the 12 division building

" Akon! What the hell? Stop messing with my computer. I'm suppose to STILL be on guard for arrancar."

" stop stressing, the chances of an arrancar showing up in Soul Society are zero so come on, lets go out and drink."

"I told you, if Mayuri-san catches me, Ill be-" Green lights started to flash and alarms shrilled in panic. " Akon! Look at this. Am I hallucinating or is the computer correct?"

" My god, no. The computer is correct" He picked up a microphone. " Attention all 12 squad members. An arrancar will be arriving in Rukongai in a matter of seconds. Alert all other squads now. Repeat, an arrancar will be arriving soon."

" What are the chances of this not happening again, Akon?

" Shuttup and find Mayuri-san NOW"

In Rukongai

A streak of light shot from the sky and hit the roads of Rukongai. A massive wave of dust blew out in all different directions. Suki shielded her sisters with her body until the winds calmed down and the dirt settled some more. When she looked up, her eyes widened in shock. There stood a man with a huge hole in his stomach, wearing white robes, and grinning at her in such a way that sent shivers down her spine. His hair was pure white and short, spiked up at the top like those wannabes she used to see.

" What the hell? This is weird, why aren't you guys knocked out by my reitsu by now? I thought this was Rukongai. This place isn't supposed to have such high spiritual powers. Hmm… it doesn't actually. It's just you three girls. I am lucky! I was angry about not getting something to eat, and all I would get were souls with barely any reitsu, but here you are! And you're not even shinigamis. You look tasty" He licked his lips and stared hungrily at the frightened girls.

Sukis mind felt like it was about to burst. She had no idea what was going on, where she was, who was infront of her or anything else for that matter. Now, this freak wants to EAT them?!

" Now, which one of you three has the most reitsu…Ahhhh the older one. Thought so. I'll save you for last. Now you two little ones, come here quietly and eat you quickly so you don't feel too much pain" He walked towards the girls. Suki, whose rational thinking had shut down by now from such overwhelming events, ran in front of her sisters.

" who the hell do you think you are, you bastard. Stay away from my sisters!" she shouted. The arrancar stopped in disbelief. Then he began laughing insanely.

" Amazing. You don't know who I am, do you? You have no idea"

" You're right I don't know. But I do know I will kick your ass if you touch my sisters!" She talked brave, but she didn't feel brave. Damnit, she thought, I shouldn't have quit karate. She got into a fighting stance and said to her sisters, " you two, stand back" The arrancar laughed again.

" You want to fight me? You must be more stupid than I thought you look." He launched a punch at her, and she quickly dodged it. She was truly frightened now. Never in her life, did she need to fight someone and be in a situation where her and her sisters' life was on the line. She didn't even know how to properly fight! This man was twice her size. But that didn't matter. She needed to focus on the fight now.

The man with the hole tried to punch her again, and this time she barely dodged it and she rolled over on the ground. She quickly got up and saw a chipped katana lying near her. Strange, she thought, but she picked it up anyways.

" Ha! Now the human has a sword. This is really interesting. What are you going to do, stab me?" he mocked. Suki took up the sword with both hands and ran at him with all her might. He swung his hand and hit her so that she flew up in the air. When she hit the ground, all she could think about was how much her body hurt. Nevertheless she got up and stood her ground again. The man sent another punch and this time she swung with all her might and her sword came in contact with his arm, but she couldn't cut him. What's going on?! She thought. Why can't she cut him? The man grabbed her by the neck and slammed her onto the wall. She choked in pain and tried to gasp for breath. The sword dropped from her side as she tried to pry his fingers off. Suki finally got the idea to use her legs to push against his chest. She kicked will all the strength she had and he released her. She fell to the floor, gasping and tearing from the pain. The man snickered and walked towards her sisters. No! She though and she grabbed the sword and ran at him again. This time, the point of the sword rammed into his back, but still did not pierce him. He turned around and punched her straight in the stomach. She coughed up blood and fell to her knees. He turned around and headed towards her sisters again. Her body was now in so much pain, she was about to pass out, but she wouldn't let herself. She wasn't this weak! She needed to protect her sisters so she can't pass out now. Once again she took her sword and ran at him with all her might, yelling in determination. His arm shot out and caught her head. She flew about fifty feet before crashing into stone wall. Get up! She though, but her body wouldn't move. The pain was about to kill her, but she didn't let it.

" Now for you two. How to eat you." He grabbed them both by the neck and held them up.

" NEE-SAMA!!" they shouted and tried to squirm out of his grasp. Tears streamed down their faces and they couldn't talk anymore.

" Food shouldn't talk," he said and he squeezed harder. They screamed. Suki tried to get up again but her legs wouldn't move. Yokana! Sakura! They needed her! GET UP she screamed to herself. She couldn't let them die, no matter what.


	2. Chapter 2

"Ichigo, what's going on?" shouted Renji as they shunpoed towards the reitsu in Rukongai

" I got an order from one of the messengers saying there was an arrancar arriving in Rukongai and we needed to eliminate it"

" What?! An arrancar in Rukongai? Are they sure?"

" Well, don't you feel the reitsu?" Renji stopped talking as they reached the arrancar. He frowned as he felt the level of the arrancar's reitsu. It was at least captain level, if not more.

" Hey!" Rengi yelled. The arrancar turned around. " shinigamis? You guys are slow. But be polite to your guests and let him have his snack"

" You want a snack? After Im through with you, youll need more than that" he snarled.

Ichigo silently started walking towards the arrancar. The arrancar sighed, and dropped the two girls.

" You will pay for interrupting my lunch"

Suki closed her eyes and screamed. She wont give up, no matter what. Her sisters were depending on her and she was going to save them! From the depths of her hearth she began to feel something grow warm, and warmth started to spread throughout her body to her fingertips and toes. She began to feel power welling in her, and her pain seemed to slowly melt away. She closed her eyes and focused on that feeling and it seemed to grow all of a sudden and consume her body. A green aura surrounded her and she slowly picked up the katana.

The arrancar suddenly stopped. Ichigo and Renji paused and turned to face the girl. What was this incredible reitsu that just appeared? It was that girl…but that was impossible. This reitsu was enormous, even greater than the arrancars! Hers was merely insignificant a few moments ago.

Suki opened her eyes. She searched the bottom of her heart and she felt that there was a last source of power that she hadn't released it. She yelled and willed every fiber in her body to release that power.

There was a sudden explosion of white light. Renji and Ichigo shieled their eyes. A sudden, massive reitsu hit them with such a force that Renji was forced to his knees. Ichigo gasps and managed to stay standing up. The arrancar was already on his knees, struggling to breathe.

Suki stood in front of him. In her hand was not the beat up katana, but a long, slender zanpaktou that was a pure gold color, but she did not wear shinigami robes. The hilt was gold and the handle was gold also. Her eyes that were normally brown were blazing with green fire and as she walked, the aura of green light moved with her. The arrancar roared and pulled out his zanpaktou. Suki swung her zanpktou down. The arrancar tried to block her attack but her sword merely sliced through his and cut him in half. He screamed in pain and dissolved into the air. Suki swayed a little where she was standing. She automatically sheathed her sword and ran to her sisters.

Ichigo and Renji stared in disbelief. Who was this girl? What was she? Where did she get that zanpaktou from? She wasn't a shinigami that's for sure. And that reitsu…it was greater than anything they've felt before.

The moment Suki was sure they weren't hurt, she relaxed. All the tensions and strength she used to hold the pain in and produce her power were let go, and she collapsed. Her sisters gaspsed and yelled for her to wake up, but she was so tired and in pain that she was beyond being woken up. Ichigo walked towards the girls.

" Renji I think we should take them back to Seretei"

"yeah…." He said in wonder, still amazed. Now that she passed out her reitsu was much smaller, thought not small compared to his or Ichigos. Ichigo bent down to face the two extremely traumatized and frightened girls. His eyes grown soft and they relaxed to see such a friendly and warm guy.

" Hey what are your names?" he asked

" Im Yokana and this is Sakura" said Yokana, trying to be more brave. Ichigo smiled sadly, and Yokana noticed how his eyes looked so soft yet damaged.

" Do you think you guys can follow me so we can get your sister some medical attention?"

"umm..ok" they got up and followed Renji. Ichigo bent down to pick up Suki. Time to see Unohana.

Suki tried to keep her sisters distracted as she played with them. She grabbed Sakura and tickled her and gave swung Yokana around. They shriek with laughter as Suki tried to chase them and tackle them. They were waiting in a empty room with just a few cushions. After Suki was released, they told her and her sisters to wait. She didn't want her sisters to feel scared or insecure now that their parents weren't there anymore and they were surrounded by strangers who controlled them now and decided what to do with them. Suki felt helpless and angry because she was helpless, nevertheless her sisters came first.

Captains Meeting

" Ichigo and Renji, give us your report about this girl from Rukongai"boomed Yamamoto

" It wasn't just that girl. Her sisters were different too. I'll start with the eldest. When we arrived, she was completely beat and near unconciousness from loss of blood. Her reitsu was significantly greater than the regular Rukongians but not as big as regular shinigami. However, before we could attack the arrancar, she exploded with reitsu. It was so enormous that Renji was forced to his knees ( Renji snorted there and glared at Ichigo) while I was panting for breath. She was using a broken katana, but that changed into a solid gold zapaktou. The arrancar, who has a captain-level reitsu, had his sword easily sliced in two by this girl. She then promply passed out after checking her sisters. Now about the two younger siblings. I noticed that when they walked father away from each other, their reitsu dwindled and almost became nothing. But together, its greater than their older sister's regular reitsu. Im mostly concerned with this older sister." Ichigo reported with a bit of his old impatience.

"I think we can put this girl into great use for Seretei and our fight against Aizen. She seems trainable. In addition, she has no idea what is going on. I watched her for a while when she was with her sister. If we strike a deal where her sisters are comfortable, safe, and happy, she wont deny anything" Said Yamamoto.

"How are we to use her?" said Toushiro.

"We still need more soldiers to fight against Aizen. Since time is of the essence, I cannot just put her into the academy and wait. I will assign her to each squad for a period of training. I;m still unsure if she'll be able to handle it, so well test her our first with Renji's squad" Renji's jaw dropped and protested. " why not ichigo's?!?? why mine?!" Ichigo shot Renji a contemptuous look.

"Do not argue Abarai taichou. Next will be with Soi Fon, since she needs basic combat skills. Heres the order afterwards: Ukitake, Kenpachi, Toushiro, Shunsui, and Byakuya"

"Kenpachi?!" shouted Ichigo in surprise. " You're going to put her into Kenpachi's squad right after Ukitake's?! Do you want her murdered?"

" Kurosaki-taicho, we cannot waste our time with a weakling. Either she can handle this or she cannot. Meeting dismissed. Byakuya-taicho, please inform her of our request ."

" Hai" he states and turned around, swishing his robed behind him.

Byakuya pauses when he reached the door. He heard the sound of children laughing, something he hadn't heard in many years. He pushed the door open. When he saw the girl, his eyes widened for a second and his graceful step faltered. Then he calmly walked in.

Flash back

It is a warm, sunny summer day. Inside the Japanese house, someone slides open the door to reveal a beautiful garden with little trees, bushes, and even a little river that flowed into a pond that contained colorful koi. It is clearly a house that belongs to someone extremely rich. A little dark haired toddles wobbles around, trying to stand. She is as adorable as any other baby, but she has coffe colored eyes while her mother has lavender and her father has blue. The mother, who also has raven hair, watches warily from her reclining lounge. She is wearing a plain looking kimono, but it is made from the finest, most expensive silk. Her sad eyes seem to be searching for something while watching her baby. The father puts down his brush to momentarily check on his daughter. The normally cold, impassive eyes show warmth and certain softness. The little girl gives up trying to walk and rushed on all fours towards her father. He smiles a little and gets up. She stops when she reaches his feet. Then, she stands up and stretches her hands to the sky and says "up!up!" while waving her arms. The father picks her up and places her on his shoulder. She giggles and starts playing with his hair. He seems annoyed for a second, but puts up with the inquisitive child. He takes her outside and places her down near the fishes. He sits on the grass next to her and picks her up to place her in his lap. She turns around and looks at her fathers face. She was intelligent for a child her age, and she put her hands on his face. "I love daddy" she simply said and kissed her father on the cheek. She then proceeded to pull the keinske?? Out of his hair because she loved to play with them. Extremely annoyed now, the father gently reprimands her and placed the things back. She sighs and michevously sneaks a glance at her father. He notices and he grows cautious. Out of no where, she suddenly jumps into the pond, splashing her father. He immediately gets up to pull her out, but she jumps back out and give him a watery hug.

Suki stopped as she felt something enormous press upon her shoulder. Her sisters also stopped and their eyes widened in surprise. What was this force? She could hardly breathe and her sisters slowly slid onto the ground because they couldn't hold themselves up anymore. She turned around to see a man in the doorway.

"Sugimoto Suki. We have a proposition for you, but before that I must give you a background of where you are and what has happened" He then proceeded to tell her what Rukongai was, her situation if she lived there, and how she would live if she entered Seretei. He then told her about Aizen and how they needed more soldiers. He concluded by saying, " Join us and we will provide you and your sisters with the most comfortable life available." He emaphasis your sisters and Suki took notice of that. Her mind was racing with thoughts and confusion. She glanced by her sword that she left leaning on the wall. It glistened in the sunlight. She did not want her sisters living in Rukongai no matter what.

" I agree" she said, emotionlessly and forcefully. The man nodded and said " An escort will take you to your living quarters and give you an outline on your training course. Your sisters will be put into the local academy for similar but less rigorous training. They will be supplied with everything they need. The escort will also explain how things work around here." While he was looking at her he saw the scar across her left forehead and momentarily faltered again. Twice in a day. He paused for a second and asked her " Where did you get that scar?"

Suki blinked in surprise. This formal, cold man that was all about business suddenly asked her a completely random question. " According to my parents, when I was four years old, I tripped and my head hit the corner of a table." He nodded and noticed something else odd,. " You still have your past memories?" She nodded. Strange, Byakuya thought. That has never occurred before.

flash back

The father left the room to take a walk outside. His daughter was driving him crazy and he needed some time to calm down. She had beem screaming for attention, but he needed to do his work. He stared at the calm sky. She was lonely. He felt horrible about it, but she needed a companion. He was extremely busy, being a captain, and his wife was busy searching Rukongai daily for her sister. Maybe they would try to have another child so his daughter would have a sibling to play with. Suddenly he hears a thump and a loud wail follwed by high pitched crying. He rushes back into the house and sees his daughter sprawled on the floor. Her head was cut and was bleeding profusely. She managed to fall right on the corner of the table and the gash was deep. Her screams grew louder and louder. He immediately placed his hand over her cut and healed her the best he could, but his skill wasn't in healing and the wound didn't close. He soothed her the best he could and shunpoed towards the fourth division.

Unohana took one look and quickly healed the little girl. However, a scar remained for some reason, even though Unohana was a professional healer. She tried to get rid of it, but it wouldn't go away. The father said it was fine, thanked Unohana, and left.

Five years Later

The father sat under the sakura trees, refusing to talk to anyone, or eat. His wife recently passed away and his sorrow was deeper than anyone could imagine. He stared into the water. He wanted to forget everything, to let the world fall away. For time to go back and revist the old days of their love. He closed his eyes and tried to stem the pain that was flowing from his heart. He was oblivious to everything else. When it began to rain, he felt the water soak his clothes and wrinkle his skin. He shivered, but the cold took away some feeling. The wind howled ferociously and thunder boomed throughout the sky. He couldn't hear anything except the rain and the thunder. It felt a bit comforting in the darkness and stupor. He sat there, until it stopped raining, which was hours later. He slowly picked himself up and walked inside.

A servant saw him enter. She was extremely frightened. She was so scared that she was on the verge of jumping off the bridge to save herself the anxiety. The master's daughter had gone missing hours ago and she couldn't find her. The master did in a constant state of depression after his wife died and apparently his daughter went off looking for her mother, not understand that her mother was gone.

Not too far away, the little toddle was huddled in the ditch. Her head hurt and she was tired from crying for hours. Nobody heard her. She tried to get out again, but the hole was too deep. She was walking in the garden, looking for her mother when she tripped and fell into a deep ditch. It was dug by the gardeners to plant a large tree. She screamed for her parents. Nobody came except for the rain. It soaked her and she more miserable than she had ever felt in her short life. She quickly passed out.

The servant couldn't stand the pressure anymore and quickly walked over to the master. " Sir, I hate to interrupt you, but I have an urgent issue"

His eyes moved slowly to look at her. The stare pierced her heart. "Nani?"

The servant shut her eyes " Your daughter went missing hours ago. We searched everywhere but nobody could find her. We only found one of her sandals floating in the pond." When she opened her eyes, she was alone. The master was gone.

The father's heart stopped beating when he heard she disappeared. This suddenness brought him sharply out of his unconsciousness. He focused his concentration to find her tiny reitsu. It was even smaller than it normally was. He was afraid of what it meant. He shunpoed to her faster than he had ever gone, so fast that if Yorichi was watching him, she would have said easily that he could have won her at tag. His mind was blank and all he could think about what his little girl. He saw her lying in the ditch and he picked up her fragile, doll-like body. He tried to wake her. He called outher name. She didn't hear.

At the fourth division, his daughter was hooked onto machines while he stared at her. How could he have been so selfish to leave his daughter for his own remorse? How could he have let her fallen so ill? He needed to be strong to protect his daughter even though Hisana was gone now. His daughter was in critical condition for days. Due to her exposure to the storm and being wet and cold for so long, she contracted a disease and her lungs were failing. Unohana had tried to gently tell him that his daughter wasn't going to get out of bed. She tried to tell him that his days in the garden with his daughter were limited. She failed. He wouldn't hear. He couldn't hear. His heart was still bound to his daughters, as it was to his wife. The connection to his wife was already cut and he couldn't let this one be destroyed. He held his daughter's hand. Her eyes fluttered. She slowly cracked them open. Even though she was a child she knew she was going to die, but as a child she did not know what it meant. She just knew she was leaving. She turned to her father. The suddenly mature four year old turned to her father, her soft brown eyes peaceful, and said " I love you daddy. Bye-bye", smiled, and closed her eyes forever. Her hand went limp in his. His daughter died that day, but so did he.

Byakuya could barely breathe as he left the girl. He went back to his mansion, and stared at Hisana's picture. He never kept a picture of his daughter because her memory combined with Hisana's was too great a pain to bear. Since his daughter had only been around for 4 years, many people soon forgot he had a child. However, he kept one family photo deep in the trunk. He pulled it out. So if his daughter had grown up, she would have looked like that girl back in the room. Same facial feature, and the same eyes. The wise, yet playful murky brown eyes. He could never forget those, yet he saw them again today. What was going on?…

Suki woke up before dawn, as instructed . She put on her robe, which felt extremely weird but comfortable compared to the clothes she wore back on earth. She slid her sword that still did not feel comfortable in. Damn shinigami making her wake up so early. Wasn't heaven supposed to be relaxing. She hated the cold and already the cold was biting her nose. She walked across the breeze ways towards second division. She met the captain earlier. Personally, she thought the captain was a bitch who needed a personality. However, her demonstration was amazing. Suki was looking for forward to training and learning.

Soi Fon waited impatiently in the training courtyard. Where was that girl? What was her name again? It reminded her of the alcohol drink…ah Suki. Soi Fon was exasperated when she was handed the task. This girl had took some training in karate before, but she was out of the shape now and not capable of basic combat from what Soi Fon saw. Well, she would know for sure soon.

Suki walked sluggishly towards Soi Fon.

" Well begin by you showing me where your skills level stands" said Soi Fon. She looked at this girl. She inwardly frowned and sighed since this girl looked not only out of shape but also incapable of fighting all together.

" How do I do that?" asked Suki. Soi Fon just stared at her. Suddenly from behind her a man in black uniform and a mask grabbed her a flipped her so that she landed with a thump on her back. She groaned and before she could properly face her opponent he picked her up and threw her to the side. Suki shook her head and tried to clear her spinning mind. What the hell was he doing? Why didn't they give her a warning? The man tried to punch her and he made contact with the side of her head when she tried to dodge. She landed on her butt, which made Soi Fon smirk and the man snickered a little. Suki saw that smirk and heard the snicker. In an instant she was so angry at this humiliation and she jumped up and ran at the man with such speed and ferocity that he was surprised. She shot two hard punches in his stomach and a quick knee to the crotch. Her strength was so surprising that he was momentarily paralyzed with pain. She took this chance to then ram his head into her knee and punch his head. When he went down, she jumped on top of him and started to beat him with all the anger, frustration, and doubt she felt inside. He was so astonished at her strength, but he kicked her off and pinned her to the ground, his hand at her throat.

" Stop" commanded Soi Fon.


End file.
